


the day after the next

by wrenkos



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Dancing, F/F, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Spoilers, with no music
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-02
Updated: 2018-02-02
Packaged: 2019-03-12 13:04:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,325
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13547901
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wrenkos/pseuds/wrenkos
Summary: In another world, she thinks, they could have been friends. Perhaps more if the feeling was mutual.Alas, that was simply not meant to be.They have their first and last dance.





	the day after the next

**Author's Note:**

> spoilers!

Tsumugi Shirogane knows how to pull strings to create an outcome. She’s written some of these characters herself; she’s seen their traits, what makes them tick, what makes them not, what food they like, how they’re intended to develop.

She knows that certain motives will give certain people the push and the encouragement to move the story along. She knows that certain plans are being brewed as she sits and watches the camera footage - Kirumi, Iruma, Ouma. All thinking, all thinking, creating and weaving what will make them truly impactful characters.

One, she knows, is not like the others - it’s different, in the sense that the gears have been turned already and she suspects it will be a more shorter-term plan compared the rest.

Yes, she thinks, as she looks at Kirumi Toujou’s perfect posture face - she isn’t falling apart, far from it.

(She thinks, perhaps, at the end of the week, she will have fallen already.)

(And she doesn’t know if that makes her upset or not.)

* * *

She knows what Angie Yonaga does and does not want to do - does want to hold the magic show; does not want to sew the curtains. Will ask Kirumi; will not ask her.

If left unattended, of course.

In truth, she knows that Toujou will fall soon. It’s either that, or everyone else. It’s a pity, really, and it makes her heart strings pull slightly so, but this is what they both signed up for. Death. Murder. Despair.

Fiction.

So, when Angie Yonaga bounces with quick steps, calling “Kirumi, Kirumi!” she knows what to do. She knows that although Kirumi has not fallen, she has fallen for her, and if she is to fall soon then it would be best to inflict as much despair as she can.

(Inside, she wants to reach out to her and say, ‘I’ll make you a fan favorite because it is what you deserve; inside, she wants to reach out and never let go.)

(Perhaps, in a different world, but in this one it is simply quite the impossible feat.)

She tilts her head backwards as if she’s listening in and turns around on her seat, a hand resting on her cheek.

(A nervous habit she will never admit nor grow out of, it seems.)

“Ah, you’re going to sew the curtains?”

“Shirogane, Shirogane! Nyahaha, were you perhaps listening in to Kirumi and I’s conversation?”

“O-Oh, sorry - I was just here, and I heard sewing…”

It takes Angie a moment, “Oh! That’s right, that’s right! Shirogane’s a cosplayer! You must be a gifted seamstress!”

(Seamstress, she thinks, and wants to laugh, because in a life not too long ago that was indeed what she was.)

“Ah, yes. That’s...what I meant.”

Toujou raises a finger to her chin, “Are you suggesting to help me? I assure you--”

“This is for the magic show, Kirumi,” she manages to laugh, “Besides, the gym is off limits during nighttime... getting things done quicker would be the safest, right?”

“Kami-sami says that Tsumugi-san is plainly right! Quick, quick!”

Toujou blinks, “Ah, then...I suppose it would be alright.”

Tsumugi beams.

* * *

“Gonta is here to take everyone to the Insect Meet and Greet!”

“Nyahaha, the Insect Meet and Greet? Will we be saying hello to Mr. Buzz? Oh, oh! Perhaps Mr. Cricket?”

“Yes! It is to make everybody less scared of bugs!”

“Nyahaha,” Angie sings, “Well, Tsumugi and Kirumi have to sew the curtains still!”

* * *

There is somewhat awkward silence. Even with such a large gym, they are both quiet and there is no noise. She can sew the curtains with her eyes closed, but she doesn’t know if Kirumi would prefer to think in peace or talk with plain old her.

So she keeps quiet, and then Kirumi speaks up (much to her delight, honestly.)

“We should be done in a few minutes.”

“Wow...is there anything you can’t do, Toujou-san?”

She laughs quietly,  covering her mouth with a gloved hand, and her heart speeds up just a tiny bit so, “It is my honor and pride as a maid to do whatever I am ordered to do.”

“Ahh...you’re really so cool, Toujou-san.”

“Thank you, Shirogane-san. Although, you’re quite skilled at this as well." 

“Oh! Um, thank you, Toujou-san.”

“You’re welcome.”

* * *

She finds that Toujou hums lightly to herself when adding the final touches, and although she does not know the song, she looks up from her handwork.

“Ah. Apologies, it’s a habit--”

“No, no!” She waves her hands, “...Actually, I, um. Think it’s a bit charming? It sort of makes me feel like dancing...”

Kirumi blinks.

“Oh, um! Uh - s-sorry, that plainly sounded a bit weird, didn’t it? I--”

“Please, Shirogane-san,” Kirumi smiles, “If you request it, I would love to dance with you.”

“Ah. But...there’s, uh, no music, though?”

“One doesn’t require music to dance, yes?”

* * *

She finds herself dancing with Kirumi Toujou, and she can’t look anywhere else other than her face. She knows that they won’t be interrupted because of Ouma’s plan, so she can rest assured that nobody will walk in, but she finds herself slightly nervous anyways.

There is no music, but they both act like there is. Perhaps, she thinks, in Kirumi’s head, there is an orchestra playing.

(Or perhaps she just wants an alibi.)

But she decides that she doesn’t care if she is just her alibi now. In this moment, it is just the two of them, in the gym with the brightly-lit lights that Angie had put up. She decides that, when Kirumi spins her and she finds herself laughing and Toujou smiling back, that she, quite frankly, doesn’t care.

She thinks, these hands were once speckled with blood, but now they are intertwined with Kirumi Toujou’s.

She thinks, it’s hopelessly ironic, isn’t it? Because she knows Kirumi’s plan is already in motion, because she had seen her place rope behind the stage earlier - proved by the camera footage; it is something that was not asked by Yonaga.

This will be a first and a last dance with her, she thinks. How bittersweet this is. To an observer, this would be a sweet, perhaps intimate moment, but in her head - no, she thinks, perhaps in _their_ heads - it is unfortunately not. 

They are a murderer and a murderer to-be; both facts blissfully ignorant to their dear and fellow classmates. She doesn’t know, if, by the time the sun goes down tomorrow, if Kirumi will be alive or not. 

That fact makes her heartstrings tug slightly so. This girl had charmed her during the auditions; charmed her in all the meetings they had before they became characters; charmed her now in the world that will be broadcasted worldwide.

(Kirumi will die without knowing who she really is or she herself will die with the truth, she thinks. But everybody when they leave and wake up in the next world over will find out about her identity and will hate her in both scenarios, won’t they?)

She smiles at her, and she smiles back, and for a moment, she pretends. She pretends she isn’t the mastermind; that she may not die the day after the next. Pretends that the voice at the back of her head would shut up; pretends they will both be alive in the end; pretends that she hasn’t bloodied her hands already and that Kirumi isn't planning to do so.

In another world, she thinks, they could have been friends. Perhaps more if the feeling was mutual.

Alas, that was simply not meant to be.

* * *

“You go on ahead,” Kirumi says, “I’ll do one last double-check.”

(Ah, does that mean she’ll follow through with the plan?)

“Ah, alright,” Shirogane laughs, “I’ll see you tomorrow, then!”

(She does not know if she will see her the day after the next.)

(She thinks, one of them will die after the trial.)

She hopes that, perhaps, in the next world, she won’t hate her.

**Author's Note:**

> alternatively titled 'a murderer and a murderer to-be' but not only is that rather long but also has very blatant spoilers. i guess that's just how it is on this bitch of an earth huh?? 
> 
> hgjsjfh though i hope you enjoyed!! as always, thank you for reading. comments and kudos are much appreciated!


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